INTRODUCTION 



As demand for resources and recreation increase on public lands, so does the need for wise 

 land management decisions. How disturbance is likely to affect animal and plant populations 

 forms the basis for management plans, which must begin with an inventory of species present. 

 Bats are one of several groups which must be considered. Six species of vespertilionid bats 

 (Myotis evotis, M. yitmanensis, M. ciliolabrum, M. volans, M. thysanodes, and Plecotus 

 townsendii) found in northwestern Montana are on the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service list of 

 candidate (C2) species for threatened or endangered status pending further study; P. townsendii 

 is also listed by the U. S. Forest Service as Sensitive. 



Knowledge about the distribution, habitat requirements, and movements of bats in western 

 North America is fragmentary. Study efforts on bat populations have generally been 

 concentrated in areas with a relative abundance of caves and mines. Yet, much remains to be 

 learned about basic distribution, seasonality of occurrence, habitat use, and population status of 

 most species, especially in areas of extensive forest cover. 



In the summer of 1994, a survey of bats occurring on the Kootenai National Forest in 

 Flathead, Lincoln, and Sanders counties, Montana was conducted, expanding on preliminary 

 efforts initiated in 1993 (Roemer 1994), to determine species presence and distribution on the 

 different forest Districts. The results of this survey, along with data published previously, are 

 presented here and should form the basis for further inventory and monitoring efforts. 



